Our neighbors to the west are about to embark on a giant political and socioeconomic experiment to put money behind the movement that launched the 2020 summer of protests.

California is one of a dozen states that now aim to address historic wrongs against African Americans through a massive transfer of wealth to Black communities.

Momentum for reparations drew strength from the gale-force winds created by the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd. That outrage has led to progressive Democrats across America pushing reparations in cities, states and in Congress.

Reparations has always been a hard sell, but the Black Lives Matter movement has given it new impetus, and Democrats committed to social justice say the time is now.

They are walking on precarious ground.

The political fight they are courting in one of our bluest states might not bring the outcome they’re anticipating. In fact, it’s hard to see how it can at the levels of compensation they are now envisioning.